Cancellations in some services have occurred due to issues including the pandemic, a leading bus company has said.

The comment from Stagecoach Cumbria came amid concerns about cancellations to services in Barrow.

Yesterday, two services in the town were cancelled - service 1 from Biggar Bank and service 3 from Newbarns - due to staff shortages.

The evening before, an angry member of the public took to Twitter to say she had been left waiting for the bus from Barrow to Dalton.

A spokesman for Stagecoach Cumbria acknowledged the organisation was experiencing some problems.

He said: "We are continuing to operate the vast majority of our services as normal but, like many sectors of the economy, we are seeing some areas where issues - such as the ongoing impact of the Covid pandemic or the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency taking longer to process driving PCV [passenger-carrying vehicle] licences - have had an effect on our operation and the phasing of people joining.

"Where we do have to cancel a bus, we are providing live updates to our customers, including through our Twitter account - @StagecoachCNL."

He said: "We have seen strong demand for jobs with us, including driving roles, and we are continuing to recruit in the areas needed to run our operation and deliver services for our customers."

In response to the tweet from an exasperated member of the public whose bus to Dalton had not turned up on Thursday evening, Stagecoach tweeted: "Hi Maddie, our Barrow depot tweet out early morning the services which will be affected.

"We’re sorry to hear you were left waiting.

"Our journey planner is updated to reflect daily service changes, so worth checking there before you travel."

He directed her to stagecoachbus.com/plan-a-journey.

In June, it was revealed that the company had put recruitment on hold during the previous year and was on the lookout for new drivers.

Stagecoach said it was, however, gearing up for the year ahead with a recruitment drive.

“It’s a fantastic way to build a career in a job where you get to be your own boss, but with the security of working for a large, nationally recognised employer,” said Tom Waterhouse, operations director at the company.

“You get a professional qualification, all of the training is done in house, while you’re a fully-paid, full-time employee.

“We’ll put you through all your tests and training that you need to be a bus driver."